Public provision for pauper idiots and imbeciles in England and Wales / by G.E. Shuttleworth.

  • Shuttleworth, G. E. (George Edward), 1842-1928.
Date:
[1895]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Public provision for pauper idiots and imbeciles in England and Wales / by G.E. Shuttleworth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    enterprising County Councils establishing, in connection with their lunatic asylums, separate departments for idiots, large enough to receive also out-county patients. This would probably uot be an unprofitable experiment; and if, as is perhaps likely, the ultimate result should be to lead to the establishment of larger combined institutions, the buildings would be available at a later date for ordinary asylum purposes. A third plan has been proposed, viz., to make provision for pauper idiots in connection with the existing voluntary training institutions by arrangement with their managers. In the county of Lancaster it has indeed been suggested that the Royal Albert Asylum—which at present receives a limited number of paupers —should be subsidised by the county authorities and utilised for the training of improv- able pauper idiots, those found unimprovable after a period of probation being relegated to the county asylums. The county would thus be saved the expense of providing the ex- pensive educational equipment of a training institution. If a similar plan were adopted for the Home Counties in connec- tion with Earlswood (which, though not receiving paupers, has space for at least 100 more patients than its funds per- mit it to maintain), and for the Eastern and Midland Counties in connection with the institutions at Colchester and Knowle, the pressing demands of these districts might be met in the same way as those of the Western Counties are by the training institution at Starcross, which, although a charitable foundation, throws open its doors to improvable pauper cases, duly paid for by Boards of Guardians. Such an arrangement might indeed tend to these institutions becoming, even more than they are now, educational establishments, leaving to the local authorities to provide the necessary custodial asylums for those incapable of education, and industrial homes for those who, having passed through training, still need supervision. I was unaware, when collecting material for this paper, that the Lunacy Commissioners were about to publish the return already referred to, or I should not have troubled the Medical Superintendents of County and Borough Asylums with a personal inquiry as to the number of idiot and imbecile children under their charge. I take this oppor- tunity of thanking my colleagues for their kind courtesy in hlling up and returning my schedules; and it may be in- teresting to state that the latter, which included cases up to